MLB Player News

Hoffman (6-4) allowed four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out one across five innings to take the loss Saturday against the Marlins.

Hoffman entered the fourth inning locked in a 1-1 tie, but he then gave up a three-run homer to Giancarlo Stanton. He's allowed at least four earned runs in five of his last seven starts, and his ERA sits at 5.15, making him a high-risk fantasy option. He'll make his next start Friday against the Brewers.

Barraclough (shoulder) made his second rehab appearance Saturday, issuing one walk while striking out two in a scoreless inning for High-A Jupiter.

His first rehab appearance was Thursday in the Gulf Coast League, and he quickly moved up to the Florida State League. Barraclough appears poised to return to the big-league bullpen later this month. He will likely get some save opportunities at some point once he returns, so he is worth stashing, especially for owners chasing saves in deeper leagues.

Moore will remain on turn and start Game 2 of Sunday's doubleheader against the Nationals, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Chris Stratton will take the ball for Game 1 of Sunday's twin bill while Moore gets the nightcap against Cy Young candidate Max Scherzer. Moore will carry a 3-12 record along with a 5.88 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP into Sunday's tilt.

Melancon (elbow) has officially been activated off the disabled list in advance of Saturday's game against the Nationals, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

This move has been in the works since earlier in the week, but the Giants made it official shortly before first pitch Saturday. Melancon will work in low-leverage situations in his first few games back before presumably resuming his closer duties. Sam Dyson stands to remain as the Giants' closer in the interim.

Melancon (elbow) will be activated ahead of Saturday's game against the Nationals, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News reports.

According to Baggarly, either Miguel Gomez or Carlos Moncrief could be optioned to clear space for Melancon. The initial expectation is that Melancon won't immediately reclaim closing duties upon his return, but he'll likely be ready to reprise that role after he gets a few lower-leverage appearances under his belt. With that, Sam Dyson will likely serve as the Giants' closer for at least a few more games.

Grace has given up eight runs on 11 hits over his last 10 innings.

The up-and-down season continues for Grace, who has a 4.45 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across 32.1 innings. The 28-year-old has two saves on the season, but has little fantasy value with his 5.8 K/9 and is unlikely to see many high-leverage situations with the Nationals' improved bullpen.

Iglesias gave up one run on four hits and a walk over two innings while striking out four to pick up his 20th save of the season in Friday's 11-10 win over the Brewers.

On a night when neither team's pitching staff seemed capable of getting the job done, Iglesias acted as his own setup man and didn't flinch after a solo shot by Jonathan Villar in the ninth inning got Milwaukee within a run. The 27-year-old righty now has a 1.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 71:22 K:BB in 57.2 innings on the season while blowing only one save, and only the Reds' inability to consistently hand him leads has kept Iglesias out of the upper tier of fantasy closers.

Leiter will likely replace Vince Velasquez (finger) in the Phillies' rotation, Ben Harris of MLB.com reports.

Leiter tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of relief after Velasquez left his last start, so he lines up perfectly to take a spot in the rotation. He'll be facing the Padres and is a sneaky streaming option given how well he has pitched since his recall from the minors (3.48 ERA and 17:0 K:BB in 10.1 innings).

Hand converted a four-out save, his ninth, and struck out three in Friday's win over the Dodgers.

Hand bounced back strongly from Wednesday's blown save against the Reds, his first since assuming the closer's role in late July. Despite that three-run disaster, Hand owns a 2.23 ERA. Now at 8-for-9 in save opportunities since taking the job, Hand is making a strong case to become San Diego's closer of the future.

Bowman picked up his second save with a clean ninth inning Friday against Atlanta.

With Trevor Rosenthal unvailable after throwing consecutive days, including a four-out save Thursday night, Bowman took the ninth. Expect Rosenthal to slide right back into the closer's role for the next Cardinals save opportunity, but Bowman has apparently impressed Mike Matheny enough to get such a situation in Rosenthal's absence.